Caravan parks group Park Resorts pitches up for deal

US buyout group GI Partners has hired advisory firm Hawkpoint to assess strategic options for Park Resorts, which received a £15m capital injection from GI earlier this year.

GI bought Park Resorts, which operates in seaside locations including Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, and Camber Sands, East Sussex, for £440m in 2007 in a highly leveraged management buyout that made millions for the founders but saddled the firm with close to £350m in debt.

Sources close to GI Partners insist that Hawkpoint has been brought in because Park Resorts wants to lead an anticipated wave of consolidation in the sector, which has been hit hard by the credit crunch.

However, industry sources say that UK caravan and holiday-park operators face the toughest conditions for 15 years and that the most likely motivation